


The Natural Order

by Vana



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Books, By things I mean sex, Cookies, Domestic Fluff, M/M, Making Out, Pizza, Remembrance of things past
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-11
Updated: 2014-11-11
Packaged: 2018-02-24 23:11:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2600000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vana/pseuds/Vana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>A birthday ficlet for shadowsfan, my Stavos partner in crime. And an experiment in the use of the "books" tag, I don't mind admitting ...</p>
    </blockquote>





	The Natural Order

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shadowsfan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shadowsfan/gifts).



> A birthday ficlet for shadowsfan, my Stavos partner in crime. And an experiment in the use of the "books" tag, I don't mind admitting ...

The tinny screech of a Joan Jett chorus shattered the quiet of the house, and Davos thought he could hear a muffled thump from the next room. It was Asha’s custom ringtone, but Davos couldn’t find his phone. The tune built in volume the longer it rang, and the thumping settled into an ominous silence. Davos winced inadvertently as he finally found the infernal thing. 

“Hey, Asha, sorry, I couldn’t find the phone ...”

“No worries. Do you guys want to come over for lunch? Bronn is still here,” she had no compunction about saying in the same carrying tone she always used, “I think we’re going to get pizza or something.”

“Stannis has been in his study since 7 this morning.”

“On a Saturday?” Now the alarm in Asha’s voice was evident. Davos didn’t know why. Stannis spent hours every weekend in there, but usually he was actually _reading_ , not ... whatever he was doing today that was creating so much uproar and noise. Of course, sometimes, when Davos got a special invitation, there was commotion of a different type ... he could vividly remember a few weeks ago, sliding together in a messy heap from the armchair to the floor, and the imposing wall of philosophy books looming overhead as he gripped Stannis around the waist with his legs. He recalled making out the slightly puzzling words “The Ear of the Other” just before they, and everything else that wasn’t Stannis’ tense face and Stannis’ stifled groans, blurred out of meaning.

“It’s not that unusual,” Davos settled for saying after a lengthy pause. “I don’t think lunch is happening though -- but if we try for dinner ...”

“Hold on,” Asha said, putting her hand over the phone. “Hey, loser!” Davos winced at her endearment toward her new ... lover? Friend with benefits? _Fuck buddy_ , he knew she would call it. “You wanna do dinner instead? ... Okay,” she said, into the phone. “That’s fine. Come over at eight unless you can’t drag Stannis away from his books.”

“I’ll try,” Davos promised.

\--

Just after noon, Davos made a peanut butter sandwich, thinking longingly of Asha and Bronn’s pizza. Then he made a pot of tea. Then he started to eat the last chocolate chip cookie -- but thinking better of it, he broke it in half and approached the still-closed door of the study. He tapped gently.

“What?” Stannis said, from behind the door. Davos never could entirely get used to the terseness of his partner when he was involved in a project, but he had started not to mind so much.

“I brought you something.”

The door opened, and Davos gaped. Stannis stood there, flushed and frustrated, his frown deepening as Davos looked around at the utter chaos behind him. All the books were off their shelves, in precarious stacks around the usually tidy room. Dust suffused the air, and the smell of long-untouched pages and maybe even some mildew crept through the open door.

“What ... happened?” was all Davos could manage. And then: “Do you need help?”

“ _No,”_ said Stannis forcefully. “What did you want?”

Davos proffered the cookie; Stannis looked at it, then back to Davos’ face. Then to the cookie again. 

“Half?”

“I was going to eat the whole thing, but I was midway through with it and thought ...”

Without preamble Stannis gathered Davos in his arms and kissed him, sweaty and hard, and Davos wondered yet again whether he would ever be able to predict what this man would do.  

When they separated, Stannis took a moment to visibly catch his breath. “There’s a leak somewhere,” he said. “It’s come all down this wall--” he gestured at a streak of yellow running down the white paint, and underneath it the bulging drywall, “and it’s ruined some of these books. Not to mention my shelves.”

“That’s bad,” said Davos. He had been with Stannis for just over a year now and knew how important his library was to him. “You probably aren’t going to be interested, but Asha has invited us over for dinner tonight ...”

“There’s no way I’ll be done organizing this by then.”

“Yeah, I figured. I can go over and bring you something back. They’re ordering pizza.”

Stannis seemed to perk up, then droop again. He had a weakness for Greek pizza. And he liked talking to Asha. And he didn’t even mind Bronn, though Davos knew he would never admit it.

“Look,” Davos said. “I know you said you didn’t want help. But we could get a lot of this sorted out by tonight if we worked together, and then we could go have a nice dinner, and then we can work on it more tomorrow.”

“I said I didn’t want help?” 

“You certainly did. I opened the door, asked if you wanted help, and you said ‘ _No!_ ’ like how dare I even ask?”

Stannis had the grace to look ashamed, staring at the floor. “That was before the cookie,” was all he could come up with.

Davos smiled then and took Stannis’ hand. “You know, I like this room,” he said, putting out his tongue to catch a stray crumb off Stannis’ fingertip. “I would hate to see it in disarray.”

“Mm,” Stannis said absently, paying less attention to the books and more to Davos’ lips at his hand, tracing along his finger. Davos weighed his options: distract Stannis here and now and possibly endanger their dinner date later, or get to work and celebrate afterwards. Was there a way to do both? 

“Take a break,” he urged, whispering in Stannis’ ear, “and then we’ll be able to focus.”

To his surprise, Stannis almost smiled, the corner of his mouth quirking up. “Will you tell me, during this break, whether you think I should follow the Dewey system when I reshelve? Should semiotics go with philosophy or linguistics? In which order shall I shelve the history?”

“Shelve the history like this,” Davos said. He heard Stannis’ breath quicken in surprise as he ran his tongue along Stannis’ rough jawline. “Begin at the beginning,” he reached for Stannis’ shirt, unbuttoning it with gentle caresses of the warm skin, “and go on until you get to the end; then stop.”

 

\--

 

The end.


End file.
